We believe so much based on tradition. All religions are guilty of man made traditions passed off as God ordained truth. Christianity is the dominant religion of western civilization. The Christmas story about the three Wisemen is a perfect example of religious tradition. We all see the nativity scenes where the three Wisemen are in the stable presenting the baby Jesus with gifts. Those of the Christian faith were taught this story since childhood and most Christian adults believe it is factual. Yet, the very Bible that is the foundation for the Christian Faith does not substantiate this tradition. When one reads the Bible, one discovers that it never mentions how many Wisemen (or Magi) there actually were and in fact, by the time these Wisemen reached the child, he was two years old and living in a house with his parents. Some would argue that this is a minor detail in the big picture of Religion. Perhaps, but this is but one of many examples of how people believe stories from their childhood and accepts them by faith throughout their adult lives.

Another example is the widely quoted scripture that “God works in mysterious ways.” The truth is, that so-called scripture does not appear in the Bible. It is a man made observation that has been passed down as scripture but in fact, it has never been in the Bible. Or how about “Money is the root of all evil”. How many sermons have been preached on that subject when in fact the scripture actually reads, “The love of money is the root of all evil”. That is a big difference because a person does not necessarily have to possess money to love money. Thus, poverty has been instilled as a virtue in many Christian denominations and some have taken a vow of poverty to show their righteousness.

Another example is the word “Rapture”. The rapture of the Church is a widely held doctrine by most Protestant denominations, yet the word “rapture” is man made and in fact never appears in the English Bible or the original Hebrew or Greek texts or any translation of these texts.

Neither the word “rapture” nor the teaching of the rapture of the Church is mentioned in any Christian literature prior to 1830. Apparently this doctrine was introduced into Christianity by a Scottish Minister after a fifteen year old girl by the name of Margaret MacDonald had a “revelation from God” during one of his Church services. The fame of this girl’s “vision” spread through Christianity and now this doctrine is taught as Biblical fact.